Stories

Our Scotts Valley Rotary mtg Monday was on Zoom! Gine Johnson gave us a great update on the status of the County CoronaVirus. Comparing the numbers she said we are very lucky to live in California and specially in our County. Let’s keep up with our good distancing-guidelines. It is working! 😊👍

We also sang Happy Birthday to Danny Reber and Bill Holl and gave a Paul Harris Award to Ben Hicks!

The Scotts Valley Rotary thanks Assist International, Bay Federal Credit Union, and the Santa Cruz County Bank for being donor advertisers for our Chico Bag project- a reusable grocery bag to be used instead of many single-use-plastic bags.

The Chico bag project started a few years ago concurrently with the formation of the Sustainability Committee to help educate people about plastic pollution in the ocean.

These bags are produced in Chico, CA, and can carry up to 25 pounds. We give it to our speakers, and sell it to Rotary members for $5.00 each to keep spreading the word!

Brooke Newman made a presentation about DST (Downtown Streets Team) in Santa Cruz.

Downtown Streets Team helps bring hope and dignity for those who are homeless. Team members work side by side with community volunteers in some cases to clean our streets. They receive vouchers for a variety of services including job counseling and health services.
Teams have helped to clean Santa Cruz Downtown, San Lorenzo River area, Felton area near river & more. When surveyed about what the hardest part of experiencing homelessness is, the No. 1 answer was the way people look at them or— more often avoid looking at them.

Congratulations to the Scotts Valley High School to open up a salad bar at its cafeteria! 😊👍👏👏👏

“SALINAS, Calif. – On Tuesday, November 12, 2019 at Scotts Valley High School and San Benito High School, the Grower-Shipper Association Foundation (GSAF) joined representatives from the districts and local produce companies, to announce the donation and placement of two, new salad bars each at Scotts Valley High School and San Benito High School.”

Tanya Krause, Superintendent of Scotts Valley School District, Quincie Gourley, Marketing Coordinator, Taylor Farms, Shawn Coats, Food Service Supervisor, Scotts Valley School District, Rick Bravo, Sales & Marketing at Ocean Mist.

“The Grower-Shipper Association Foundation coordinated the donations with the United Fresh Start Foundation, a founding partner of the national Salad Bars to Schools initiative, which works with the produce industry to bring salad bar to schools across the country. The Salad Bars to Schools initiative has created a national movement to encourage more schools to implement salad bars, while to date has helped facilitate the donation of salad bars to over 5,600 schools, benefitting 3 million children in all fifty states.

George Haas, Vice-President of the Scotts Valley Senior Life Association made a presentation and outlined great programs where our Rotary Club, the Interact, and the SVHS can join forces to benefit the seniors, the students, and the community.

“The SVSLA is 100 per cent funded by tax deductible donations. All of our members are volunteers. So, we have no overhead, other than expenses directly related to the projects we sponsor.”

Visit the Association website for their mission and on going programs at: http://scottsvalleyseniorlife.org/

Fresh crispy air, beautiful views, good exercise, and fellowship! Nothing better than a Rotary club hike!

“Scotts Valley Rotary Club members and friends hiked through the newly developed Glenwood Preserve with guide Bryan Largay of the Santa Cruz Land Trust this past Veteran's Day.” Cindy Schuette, Rotary of Scotts Valley President Congratulations! 😊👍👏👏👏

“After the hike, Rotary District Governor, Ramesh Hariharan presented the club with the Rotary Foundation Appreciation Certificate for its financial support of the End Polio Now: Countdown to History Campaign for 2018-2019. The Campaign continues to End Polio Now.”

We have been sad lately. Two more of our dear elderly Rotarians passed away. Jim Sikora and Bob Mazurek. Instead of just being sad we like to celebrate their lives, as they were great people and Rotarians! We will miss them dearly.

We like to share their many accomplishments and Rotary work and will do so as their families become ready. See Bob Mazurek in this picture, with his wife Julie, just a few months before passing in his 80's volunteering at the Scotts Valley Art, Wine and Beer Festival! Bob was a steady participant and rarely missed any meetings! Bob and Jim were members of the Scotts Valley Rotary Sustainability Committee. May they Rest in Peace!

Check website at: www. assistinternational.org

Here programs of Assist International: 
- Child:Assist, 
- Community:Assist, 
- Safe Surgery, and
- Water Sanitation projects
Addressing the needs of the world’s most vulnerable people.

Michele is passionate about rescuing Orphaned and Vulnerable children in developing countries. She works closely with Assist International partners in Africa, Romania, and Thailand. One child at the time! She oversees building of homes and schools for the children and ensures Assist International’s orphan villages are viably sustained through donor support and enterprise solutions!